Comment by apt-apt-apt-apt

4 days ago

They use precise but indirect terminology e.g., "heightened level of appearance self-esteem" rather than "confident in their appearance".

Indirect phrasing e.g., "they respond more favorably to products that can help to repair their damaged appearance self-esteem" rather than something direct and easy to understand like "they feel bad that they don't fit, so they end up buying other things like makeup/jewelry to feel better about their appearance".

Maybe it's me, but only the first quote seems cumbersome, and wasn't very cumbersome in the article when I read it in context.

  • ”I had no issues with complex sentence structure, therefore the whole planet is fluent in english and college-level literate”

    Simpler language is an accessibility issue

  • Being able to easily, and quickly read scientific literature is not a universal trait. You're in the top 1% (probably top 0.1%?) if you're able to do that and actually understand the source material.

    The average person has a hard time reading and fully understanding a newspaper article or cooking instructions on a pre-prepared meal.

    • The first paragraph is fine -- I agree. The second paragraph is a silly hyperbole that comes up over and over again on HN and needs to die. Major newspapers are written for about 8th grade level reading comprehension. Cooking instructions on a prep'd meal are probably much lower -- maybe 5th grade. The "average person" (whatever that term means) living in highly developed nations can read at 8th grade level or above.

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You can't write "feel bad that they don't fit" in a paper. What do you think this is, the yellow papers?

  • Why can't you write that? It is much more accurate than their own version since what they wrote is very suggestive while this is just describing what happened.